Finish Mower. I know nothing about them.

[N80]

I have a Kubota L4400 (45hp). I have a JD light duty 6' rotary mower. I mow woods roads and a number of small pastures with it. I also mow the 'yard' around my cabin. The cabin 'yard' started as woods. I cleared it and graded it (sort of) 10 years ago. For most of that time it was more like a pasture than a yard but over the years it has gotten more like yard. It is a couple of acres. I mow most of it with the rotary cutter. I set the mow height very low trying to get the grass to look good (like a lawn) and it does okay but since it is so low it digs in frequently and the skid shoes leave ruts in some places.

So I'm thinking about a finish mower but I know nothing about them. The 'yard' is pretty much grass and weeds. There will be no trees or brush to cut. But it is still not as smooth as a typical yard. There are humps and low places and occasional ruts. It would need to be at least a 72" model.

So my questions are this:

Will a finish mower handle this sort of 'yard'? (If it gets too deep or overgrown I can always start with the rotary cutter).
Are there brands to avoid? The Country Line brand at TSC gets truly horrible reviews.
Any reason to go more than 72"? Some of the mowing is tight and time is not a big issue.
How much will I need to spend for a new one?
What do I need to know about buying a used one?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Turbys_1700]

George, I've run a RFM the last 22 plus years. The first one was a 5' light duty Land Pride. The last 8 years I've run a 6' heavy duty PRD 7200 Woods. Both units have been very dependable. I think I replaced a belt and several wheels on the Land Pride and so far nothing on the Woods except blades. I do need to replace the wheels on the Woods though as they are well worn.

My Woods is built heavier than the Land Pride with bigger gearbox, spring loaded wheel shafts, and cast iron sheaves for blade attachment. My advise would be to stay with solid wheels. Air tires are flat prone. Spring loaded wheel yoke shafts help absorb the bumps. I guess that a 6 foot Woods will go for north of $2800 now. Lower cost units made in Italy can be had for less than $2K. I like rear discharge over side but that is just my preference.

A RFM is great if you don't have a lot of obstacles. Not great if you have lots of trees. I do advise a center anti scalp roller for the front of the deck.

If you are patient buys can be had on Craigslist.

Let us know what you get and good luck.

 

[N80]

Thanks. Excellent advice. Solid wheels would be good for me. Lots of little locust trees around. I think rear discharge would be good for me as well.

 

[leonz]

Thanks. Excellent advice. Solid wheels would be good for me. Lots of little locust trees around. I think rear discharge would be good for me as well.

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Just keep in mind the wheels are the weakest part of a belly mount or rear finish mower and will fold up on you at the worst times.

 

[N80]

What do you mean by fold up?

 

[2458n]

I have a couple finish mowers right now that are not getting used. Just plain dry in my part of Ohio. Six ft. bush hog was bought for a really low price at auction. I was able to buy for less than 100 dollars. One spindle had been removed and many covers were found in the junk pile the auctioneer had created. The missing spindle was still with the mower. When I picked it up after the sale the mans son said the spindle on the deck was in fact brand new. He had went with a commercial zero turn- and never finished the repair. The spindle was 650 dollars thru Bush Hog. So if buying used I would look it over closely, because the replacement parts are high. Befco brand has air in front tires solid wheels in back. Does a good job for a used mower. Deck height adjusts in 1 inch amounts using 4 spacers on each wheel. Mow tall and the grass will prevent weeds from starting.

 

[DK35vince]

Just keep in mind the wheels are the weakest part of a belly mount or rear finish mower and will fold up on you at the worst times.

What ???

 

[4570Man]

I have a Howse finish mower that was new, but had set on a dealers lot for a few years. I paid $750 for it. It's a good heavy duty mower with a 7 gauge deck. On level ground it will provide the best cut of any mower I have. You have plenty of power for a wider mower, but since you said it had plenty of humps and low places I would stick with a 72". My L3240 has enough power to smoke the belts when you try to use it as a bush hog. In normal grass it hardly knows it's back there. My B7100 will run it but not very good.

 

[4570Man]

===================================================================== Just keep in mind the wheels are the weakest part of a belly mount or rear finish mower and will fold up on you at the worst times.

What? I have 2 different finish mowers and this hasn't even happened. The wheel mounts on both of them are pretty sturdy.

 

[Keeper]

What about a flail mower? There is a thread with lots of info usually near the top of the forum list.

 

[chim]

I have a 5 foot 24 year old Caroni RFM that has been beat around, welded back together and has had at least two "quills" (spindles to most of us) replaced. It is a side discharge and still works very well behind an old Ford 1210 although it rarely gets used anymore. I ran a Kubota B7500 / Landpride 5' RFM from 2002 till 2012. Replaced some wheel bearings along the way. Since getting the l3200 in 2012, I've been using a 6 foot Landpride RFM with rear discharge. It's my favorite. At times when the grass is high or really lush, I need to mow clockwise to avoid windrowing.

 

[N80]

Lots of good info here. I've been researching the Landpride and Woods heavier units. I will research the Howse and King Kutter ones as well but usually think of them as lower quality. Not opposed to going that route if they are decent as it will only get used 4 or 5 times a year at most. As mentioned, the Country Line mowers get really bad reviews and don't seem to function even when brand new.

 

[k0ua]

I ran a BEFCO 5 footer for mowing about 7 acres. It was an excellent mower, well built and did a good job.

BEFCO - Products - Finishing Mowers - Cyclone C50

 

[Turbys_1700]

Nothing at all wrong with King Kutter or Howse units. Land Pride, Woods, Bush Hog, etc...are more expensive in part due to their higher overhead in dealer support of parts. Those parts are pricey to say the least. I would think that the gear boxes are outsourced from China on all units. Not sure about the bearings though. County Line units do seem to get bad reviews for some reason or another. I've got a 10' Howse brush cutter that needs a new gear box now due to a seal going out I was not aware of. Howse still supports the unit with parts but my nearest dealer is over 40 miles away. Overall it has been a good medium duty cutter. Bush Hog and Land Pride dealer support is much closer and they have typical parts like wheels, belts, bearings, etc... available. My closest Woods dealer is a parts order taker. Does not stock much of anything. I order parts on-line. Thankfully it has been very reliable.

 

[leonz]

What? I have 2 different finish mowers and this hasn't even happened. The wheel mounts on both of them are pretty sturdy.

The gauge/anti scalp wheels are bent up quite often on belly mounted lawn mowers especially when they lift from side to side when mowing on rough ground.

 

[DK35vince]

The gauge/anti scalp wheels are bent up quite often on belly mounted lawn mowers especially when they lift from side to side when mowing on rough ground.

Might be true with a low cost box store riding mower.

 

[DK35vince]

I have a 84" First Choice rear discharge that's been a good mower.
My neighbor has an 84" Befco C-50 rear discharge that's been a very good mower.

 

[leonz]

Might be true with a low cost box store riding mower.

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It happened with both of my fathers $7K Wheel Horse Lawn Tractors which had a heavy gauge 1/4 inch plate welded mower decks so......... They no longer make riding tractors and that is real shame. They cheaped out on the gauge wheel anti scalp mounts.

Thats one of many reasons I like flail mowers-very little that will go wrong with them as long as you take reasonable care of them.

 

[DK35vince]

Thats one of many reasons I like flail mowers-very little that will go wrong with them as long as you take reasonable care of them.

I'm surprised it took this long for you to bring up the flail mower, but I knew you were leading up to it.

 

[2458n]

Ran my finish mower today to get ahead of 5 days with rain. Forgot to say you want good size tire on your finish mower to help with rough ground. The top link is not fixed solid on my mower. The top mounting bracket is pinned in place ,but it moves to the front and rear to allow a floating feature. Mower follows the land surface being pulled along with the two lift arms. This type of hitch on the toplink connection is a good feature to have.